According to the Dao Fruit Realm in the Cloud Realm, cultivators entering the Mist—whether they are Heavenly Venerables or Immortal Monarchs—cannot pass the assessment because they are not affiliated with Ashen Mountain. Even if they complete the mission and earn the required merit, they are still denied passage.
In Han Yi's understanding, this situation is akin to a glitch in the system. Normally, the process should be: complete the mission, increment the merit count, and once the merit threshold is reached, pass the assessment. Whether one ultimately receives the inheritance or not, they should not be reset to the beginning of the cycle.
However, the current reality is that after completing the mission and earning merit, the system fails to add the merit to the mission-completer's record. This is because the mission-completer is not listed among Ashen Mountain's cultivators. This "bug" in the system then triggers a reset, sending them back to the starting point.
This is the origin of the Reincarnation World and the reason why cultivators from the Cloud Realm are continuously cast into it.
It's also why the Dao Fruit Realm refers to this place as the "Death Realm of Reincarnation."
Now, Han Yi has devised a strategy to break this cycle: by inscribing his name on the Profound Xuan Dao Stele, he can gain recognition as an Ashen Mountain cultivator.
This method may seem like cheating, but it's rooted in a certain logic.
Within the Central Palace Divine Aperture World, Han Yi's Dao Thought Avatar extended his hand. Divine power from across the world surged towards his palm, coalescing into a palm-sized carving knife.
Gripping the knife, Han Yi prepared to carve at the base of the Dao Stele. The bottom of the stele was blurred, perfectly suited for adding his name.
But when the knife touched the stele, it proved utterly incapable of scratching even the slightest mark. The divine power within the knife was far too weak to leave a trace on the stele's surface.
After a moment's thought, he dispersed the knife, returning it to divine power that radiated throughout the entire Central Palace Divine Aperture World. His Dao Thought then withdrew.
In the tranquil Void, the Dao Stele remained, still and unmoved.
Back in the outside world, Han Yi regained his composure, undeterred. If the divine power of this single world was insufficient, he had countless other Divine Aperture Worlds to draw upon. Even if it meant grinding away slowly, he would carve his name onto the stele.
Half an hour passed in the blink of an eye.
As before, space shifted abruptly, and a sensation of falling washed over him. He offered no resistance. In less than a breath, he found himself in a boundless expanse of Void, a small fragment of land suspended before him amidst the Chaos.
The grand, emotionless voice echoed in his mind:
"Outlander of Ashen Mountain, this fragment of land contains eighty million Robber Cultivators. Exterminate them."
"Violators will be executed!"
As the voice echoed through the Chaos, a terrifying pressure instantly descended upon Han Yi. He had no doubt that if he remained in place and didn't head for the fragment of land, a great calamity would strike, slaughtering him.
This was exactly the same situation as outside Demon Valley.
Han Yi didn't hesitate, swiftly darting forward. Moments later, he landed on the fragment of land floating amidst the Chaos.
As soon as he entered the fragment, the pressure vanished, as if the Dao Sword suspended above his head, ready to strike at any moment, had disappeared.
This was the mechanism of the Reincarnation World.
After a mission was issued, failure to act would result in punishment. However, the underlying system of the Reincarnation World didn't directly oversee how much effort one put into the mission. If completed, a bug would activate, sending you back to your original state. If you slacked off and remained in the mission area, after a certain amount of time, you would also be sent back to your original state.
Of course, most Dao Realm cultivators who entered this place, after trying to slack off a few times and understanding the mechanism of the Reincarnation World, would subsequently give their utmost effort in subsequent missions. They wouldn't easily give up, either trying to find a way to break through the situation or hoping that after completing a massive number of missions, this world would undergo some kind of change.
This was all they could do, even the Heavenly Venerables thought the same way.
After entering the fragment continent, Han Yi, just as before, used the Dao Art of Invisibility to conceal his aura. Instead of seeking out any Robber Cultivators, he found a remote location at the edge of the fragment and hid there, then set up the Void Sword Realm.
The land fragment wasn't large, roughly equivalent to two Immortal Domains of the Great Luo Immortal Realm, and Han Yi was in the most remote area.
He immediately took out the Profound Xuan Dao Stele from the Central Palace Divine Aperture World. This time, he used nearly all his Dao Thought Power to retrieve it.
He also discovered that the Dao Thought Power he used this time was greater than when he had stored it in the Divine Aperture World on the Emperor Profound Continent.
After placing it down and examining it, Han Yi found that the ten Cave Heaven Worlds within the Dao Stele's internal space, which he had previously activated, were now undergoing a 'Spirit Qi Revitalization' phase as Spirit Qi flowed into them.
The space and weight of these Cave Heaven Worlds also increased accordingly.
The additional Dao Thought Power he used this time was precisely because the ten Cave Heaven Worlds had gained weight out of nowhere.
His brow furrowed slightly.
It was said that the space within this Dao Stele might conceal countless Cave Heaven Worlds, each of a higher level than the last. If all of them were activated, wouldn't the stele's weight become even more terrifying, so much so that even a Heavenly Venerable might struggle to move it even a fraction?
Han Yi had previously dismissed the idea that the Dao Stele was a Chaos Realm as pure fantasy. But now, the more he considered it, the more plausible it seemed.
Suppressing this thought, he began to gather most of the divine power from his Divine Aperture Worlds, channeling it into a chisel. This time, he concentrated all the divine power he could muster; any more, and it might destabilize the Divine Aperture Worlds' operation.
The chisel struck the lowest part of the Dao Stele, but to his shock, the stele's hardness was beyond comprehension. No matter how he sharpened the chisel, it left only a shallow scratch.
This chisel represented nearly all his divine power. Even a Great World's most formidable world barrier should shatter under its touch.
After a full day of effort, he had managed to carve only a shallow mark on the Dao Stele.
He paused, refraining from continuing. Instead, he focused his thoughts within his mind, channeling them into the Myriad Nether Tome. Sensing the tome, he realized he could no longer connect with his Dao Realm Avatars outside this place.
It seemed that the core of this realm, while perhaps not surpassing the Myriad Nether Tome, was certainly on a similar level.
Currently stuck at the initial stage of the Immeasurable Realm, just shy of breaking through to the intermediate stage, Han Yi knew that once he reached that threshold, his divine power would significantly increase. At that point, he should be able to inscribe his name on the Dao Stele.
With the assistance of over eighty external Dao Realm Avatars providing proficiency, this process should take less than a decade.
But now, with that connection severed, he needed to find another way.
A thought struck him. All the missions in this Reincarnation World required him to kill. What if, instead, he developed these Robber Cultivators into Myriad Nether Incarnations and endured until they forced him out? Could that work?
The idea flickered in his mind. Han Yi decided to give it a try.
First, he used his Formless Dao Technique to survey the entire Fragment Continent. He discovered that the Robber Cultivators here were similar in cultivation to the Ancient Demons he had faced in Demon Valley.
There was one Dao Fruit Realm Robber Cultivator, seven at the First Step of the Dao Realm, and the rest were either Immortal Sovereign or Immortal Monarch Tribulation cultivators.
Using his Formless Dao Technique, Han Yi began capturing Robber Cultivators, from the Dao Fruit Realm and the First Step of the Dao Realm, all the way down to Immortal Sovereigns and Immortal Monarchs. He left only one Immortal Monarch unconverted, transforming the rest into his Myriad Nether Incarnations.
He then had these Myriad Nether Incarnations cultivate the Ten Thousand Realms Fate Unification Divine Canon, and imposed a Restriction: if any of these Avatars lost contact with their Soul Master, they would self-destruct.
Twenty years later.
Han Yi sensed a vast consciousness descending upon him, intent on expelling him.
With a wave of his hand, he slew the sole remaining unconverted Immortal Monarch. With a single thought, he obliterated the Divine Souls of the Myriad Nether Incarnations he had created, causing their bodies to perish and their Daos to be extinguished.
The omnipresent vast consciousness hesitated briefly before finally expelling him. A voice resonated: "Slayed 80 million Robber Cultivators. Combat Achievements +1."
Han Yi's expression shifted. This was an unexpected bonus.
In the next moment, his surroundings transformed, and he found himself back in the Cloud Realm.
This time, the figures around him were nearly the same as when they had all gathered previously. The Dao Fruit Realm cultivator who had approached to exchange information earlier glanced at Han Yi and shook his head slightly.
In his view, Han Yi must have lingered in the Reincarnation World until the very last moment, which was why he emerged so late.
However, this approach had failed him multiple times before, never yielding any beneficial results.
The Dao Fruit Realm cultivator didn't approach again, and Han Yi patiently waited for half an hour. After that time passed, the Reincarnation World opened once more, pulling him back inside.
This time, his task was to kill a group of Foreign Race cultivators venturing into the Chaos. Han Yi used the same method as with the Robber Cultivators: he transformed them into Myriad Nether Incarnations, then extinguished their souls just as they were about to be expelled.
This way, he could advance his progress in the Divine Canon while also earning battle achievements. Though he didn't know the purpose of these achievements, having them was better than nothing.
From then on, every half-hour, he experienced another Reincarnation World, employing the same strategy each time.
Time flowed differently between the Reincarnation World and the real world. Decades could pass in the Reincarnation World, yet barely half an hour would elapse in reality.
Han Yi entered the Reincarnation World in his True Body, allowing him to rapidly accumulate Proficiency. It was as if he were using a Time Chamber to speed up his progress.
During his fifth Reincarnation World, his mission was to exterminate a hundred thousand Alien Insects. These creatures weren't part of the Demon Race; only Queen Insects possessed Wisdom. The subordinates, known as Queen Insects, were merely extensions of the Queen's will, essentially sharing a collective consciousness.
This structure resembled the insect race from Han Yi's pre-transmigration world, the Starry Sky realm.
As in the previous four cycles, he didn't immediately annihilate the insects. Instead, he captured Queen Insects and transformed them into Myriad Nether Incarnations to harvest Proficiency.
What shocked Han Yi was that the combined Proficiency from Queen and Queen Insects was more than double that of ordinary Dao Realm entities.
In just three years,
Han Yi watched as the Divine Canon's progress on his panel finally crossed the threshold from 49/100 to 50/100.
In that instant of breakthrough, a tremor ran through him as divine power surged within his body like a vast river, its turbulent waves roaring with boundless fury.
The quantity of his divine power remained unchanged, but its quality had increased by approximately fivefold.
In other words, a single thread of his current divine power now possessed the potency of five threads before his breakthrough.
With this, he had finally broken through to the mid-stage of the Immeasurable Realm.
He immediately retrieved the Profound Xuan Dao Stele, condensed a carving knife, and resumed engraving at the very bottom of the stele. Though still arduous, ecstasy surged through him as his all-out stroke finally left a lasting mark.
These marks were no longer superficial, but true characters branded into the very essence of the Dao Stele.
Engraving his name, "Han Yi," at the stele's base took him the time it takes an incense stick to burn.
During this incense time, he remained utterly focused, his caution reaching its peak.
With the final step completed, he withdrew the carving knife and finally exhaled slowly.
Then, immediately...
He waited quietly, but nothing changed. Despite having endured countless tribulations over ten thousand years, he still felt a slight unease.
Three days passed in this manner, with no change whatsoever.
Han Yi's thoughts shifted. Perhaps further stimulation was needed to trigger a change.
First, he hoisted the Dao Stele, ensuring it remained in contact with his body. In previous tests, he had found that refined artifacts carried on one's person did not vanish when repelled, but remained in their holder's hands. The Dao Stele was of paramount importance, and even if this experiment failed, he refused to lose it.
Next, with a wave of his hand, he slew a reserve Queen Insect that hadn't been transformed into an Avatar. Simultaneously, with a thought, he extinguished the souls of all his Myriad Nether Incarnations, causing them to perish instantly.
In the following moment, the mysterious force reappeared, and a majestic voice resonated:
Slay 3,000 Queen Insects. Achievement +1.
As the voice faded, the Dao Stele on Han Yi's shoulder suddenly trembled, and an extremely faint trace of Dao resonance emerged from it.
Had Han Yi not been observing the Dao Stele with utmost vigilance, he would have missed this sliver of Dao resonance.
Simultaneously,
The force pushing against him hadn't dissipated; it continued to shove him outward.
Han Yi's surroundings shifted.
This time, instead of appearing above the clouds, he found himself firmly planted on the ground. The solid sensation beneath his feet brought an instant sense of calm to his heart.
Before him, a structure loomed, partially obscured by swirling mist. Only a corner was clearly visible. Han Yi's visibility was extremely limited; his line of sight barely extended a hundred meters, and his Dao Thought range didn't exceed three hundred meters.
Judging by the visible portion, the structure appeared to be a tall tower. In other words, he stood before a towering spire, surrounded by dense mist.
He took a deep breath but didn't move forward. Instead, he slowly lowered the Profound Xuan Dao Stele onto the ground.
As the Dao Stele settled upright, the Dao resonance emanating from it seemed to replenish, visibly intensifying.
Han Yi's attention was completely captivated by the bottom line of the Dao Stele. Once blank, it now bore his name, carved with divine power. Behind his name, however, something new had appeared: characters in Chaos Script.